Romney whiffs on final debate query

It was a minor muff, but former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ought to brace for a round of criticism in his home state and its environs.

He made a small -- but, for some baseball aficionados -- possibly unforgivable mistake at the very end of tonight's CNN/YouTube debate among Republican presidential candidates, decrying the "87 years" Boston Red Sox fans had to wait between World Series victories.

As The Times Joe Mathews quickly pointed out to us, every New Englander with the power of speech can tell you the BoSox waited 86 long years -- from 1918 to 2004 -- for a World Series crown. They won again, of course, this year.

Romney, 61, was born in Michigan and grew up outside Detroit before beginning his business career in Boston as a young man. Perhaps that explains his stumble.

It came as he was given a chance to add his two cents after Rudy Giuliani, in the night's last query, was asked to explain how, as a lifelong and passionate New York Yankee fan, he could have publicly acknowledged he was rooting for Boston in the recent World Series. The admission had caused an intense -- but appropriately short-lived -- flap on the campaign trial.

We know that in selecting the final question, those in charge of the debate were trying to end the two-hour face off on a light note. Still, it struck us as soooo last month!

-- Don Frederick 

Comments

[joe]

Anybody but Ron Paul and we are lost.

[DLounsbury]

Its 87 years if you go by months between victories. A Whif? Give me a break. Romney was clearly strong on every issue and question.

[PecosBill]

The only one that speaks the thoughts of the people is Ron Paul.

[RubyRedHeart]

No problem. Romney can simply continue with the 87 year timeframe for those in his audience who calculate by the number of the months or switch to the 86 year timeframe for those who don't. It will be consistent with his history of flip-flopping on the issues depending on which way the wind blows. Of course, in that respect he is no different from any of the other candidates in either party, except Ron Paul, who has been consistent on his positions his entire political career. Think about it. If you vote for any of the other candidates you really have no idea what you're getting. They'll all say anything to get elected. Go Ron Paul!!

[Yasser F. Sanchez]

Romney was solid. He was handed the toughest questions, and was attacked the most. I think given the fact that he is the best candidate and had the msot to loose he did very well.

Huckabee got softballs thrown at him. Thompson was non-existent, and Rudy was Rudy.

I also think Sen. McCain did well. My vote is for Mitt Romney.

[David]

Anybody but Ron Paul and we are lost! I completely disagree with his stance on the war. It would be the destruction of America if we were to pull out of Iraq before taking care of Iran and North Korea. Iran does have weapons of mass destruction and a nuclear program. North Korea is working on a nuclear program with China. Can anyone imagine the destructive force of one nuclear bomb? It would incinerate everything within 300 miles with radiation. How many lives would be lost if one found its way to the United States? Keeping the enemy at bay is by far a wiser strategy then bringing all of the troups home and waiting for whatever attack here.

I terms of "speaking the thoughts of the people," he may speak for you but he does not for me. The primary purpose of the president according to the Constitution is to defend the rights of the people. In todays world, the threats against the people of the United States are global in scope. To suggest that they only exist domestically is foolishness. Ron Paul seems to believe that if he pulls everything back into the United States he will be able to stop the globalization happening throughout the world.

With the tools currently available to business, every business and employee is in competition with everyone else on the planet. It is the Internet (Ron Paul's money making machine) that has made all of this possible. Besides, even if Ron Paul were to become president, what kind of political strength is he going to get with Congress, especially a Democratic one? What about the biased liberal media? Do you honestly think that these people are going to support any "revolution" put together by a Ron Paul presidency? He would die within his first three months from the Secret Service that is contolled by the Federal Reserve and the IRS, and if they did not get him Congress would along with the liberal media. They would eat him alive before he even had a chance to do anything.

I seriously doubt that it is wise to think that the presidency is the ultimate power in this country. Besides, comparatively, there are so few who would be willing to revolt for a Ron Paul death compared to the amount of people dying in Iraq or who died on 9-11.

[Jacob]

I think it's hilarious that no one can come up with anything good to attack Romney with. The worst that gets thrown at him are the "beating the dead horse" comments that have been explained a thousand times, or the fact that he was off by one year on baseball. Are you kidding? Are we electing a President or a statistician? Anyone who entertains this as substantial is a moron, including the writer. Get a real story amateur.

As for his illegal immigrant...he explained it well. And is anyone aware that's it's illegal to ask to see the papers of contracted workers? Of course not. Morons. How bout his "Flip Flopping"? Would you rather have a man who realizes he was wrong on an issue, and changes to do the right thing, or a man who realizes he is wrong, but does not change for fear of public opinion? Everyone is wrong at times...but who they are depends on what they do. I hope any who would say he should not change or that say "Well, my guy is never wrong (because you know that's not true)" would just leave the country...we're better without you.

[don]

Mitt,s 3 legged stool is 1}strong economy..2{strong military...3(strong family values!MITT is the only candidate that has a message.Go Mitt 08!Iowa loves you!

[Tom]

Thank you for pointing out that Romney said 87 years instead of 86. Everyone in Boston knows it's 86 years. Romney won the debate which is unfortunate because Rudy is by far and away a much bigger baseball fan. No Yankee fan cheers on the Sox and no Sox fan cheers on the Yankees.

Tom from Boston

[David]

It is good to see so many Romney voters on this blog. I hope California can pick up some momentum for him. Guiliani still appears to be a favorite in the sunshine state. Having heard many Romney stories throughout the course of my marriage (my wife was a housekeeper to his family and my inlaws have known him since he was a student at Harvard), I have grown a tremendous respect for him. I know that he is the only person that will be able to bring the United States out of the economic, military, and family challenges that are ahead of us. His message is the strongest, the most optimistic, the most focused, the most conservative that I have heard from any candidate since I started voting (24 years ago).

[David]

It would also seem that since Ron Paul has been consistent with the same issue his entire life, that would make him a "closed minded" individual which is even worse than a "flip-flopper" as some people like to call it. It means that he is so hardlined, he won't open his mind to additional information. Why on earth would I want to vote for anyone who is so "closed minded" that he will not look at other options.

If Ron Paul becomes president, we are all in big trouble. Besides, I absolutely disagree with his position on the war in Iraq and his economic policies are enough to make me fear greatly for the future of our country. His policies relating to the war in Iraq are all wrong especially given the current situation with Iran and North Korea having nuclear programs. Our military should stay right where they are. I think most Americans would prefer the military to be where they are as opposed to having the war with Iran and North Korea here in America.

In terms of Ron Paul's economic policies of eliminating the Federal Reserve and the IRS, this would send such shock waves throughout the world that the United States would economically collapse, especially if he tried to base our currency on the gold standard. In case you don't know, the value of gold is based on the volume and price it sells for. Any nation with enough wealth could buy a great deal of gold only to sell it off in order to force the value of our gold based currency to fall dramatically. Of course, having $1.3 trillion dollars from China in United States Treasury Bonds would also send our economy falling rappidly. But the change over of currency systems would send this country of ours into a tail spin that would make our country a third world country.

For you voters who are looking at Ron Paul, I hope you consider the value of your homes, automobiles, your employment, your income, your investments, etc. because a vote for him would make it all disappear and force you to take your family and live on the streets for a time. Anyone interested? Those who tell me that Ron Paul is Americas only hope are probably either tax protestors or some kind of rebel.

Have any of you Ron Paul voters thought about the possibility of the IRS and/or the Federal Reserve playing the "big brother" card on all of you through getting records from these sites on who you are then coming after you with an audit. Any more takers? After all, in this presidential contest, you stand for everything that the Federal Reserve and IRS is against. Yes, they are very powerful. Yes, if they came and audited you, you would likely go to jail and have to pay stiff fines for a very long time. No, it is not likely to be placed on the news. Think about the cards you are playing!!!

[David]

As far as public opinion goes, can anyone tell me why Mitt Romney has not changed his religion? It would appear that his religion is hurting him far more than the stance he took on changing his position on abortion. Since his religion has not changed to say Baptist or Methodist, does this mean that he does not change his views for the sake of public perception? It is something for all of us to think about. Then, after thinking about it for a while you might arrive at the same conclusion that I did. Mitt Romney changed his mind on abortion and gay marriage because it went against some core values of his after further research and discussion. Yet, Mitt Romney has held strong to his religion even though it has been a more significant road block then his conversion to pro-life and marriage for only a man and a woman.